Feature Article

Website Traffic Shifting to Tablets and Smart Phones

The share of website visits made from PCs is declining largely because of traffic on tablets and smart phones, according to a report from research firm Monetate. That’s just one more data point indicating the role tablets and smart phones are now playing in the Internet content consumption business.

In fact, the role of smart phones is considered by HP to be so important that HP now believes it “must” get back into the smart phone business.

"We have to ultimately offer a smartphone because in many countries of the world that is your first computing device," says Whitman. "You know, there will be countries around the world where people may never own a tablet, or a PC, or a desktop."

Earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that the company sold more iPads than any computer manufacturer sold of its own PCs, Monetate notes.

It also appears that desktop and laptop usage is being replaced by tablet browsing. Some 88 percent of website visits now come from PCs (desktops and laptops) – down from 92.1 percent the prior quarter.

In fact, traffic from tablet devices increased 348 percent in one year, while visits from smart phone users increased 117 percent during the same time period.

Worldwide tablet sales totaled 60 million in 2011 with more than two-thirds being iPads, according to Gartner. The research firm also forecasts global tablet sales to reach 118.9 million units in 2012, a 98 percent increase from 2011, Monetate says.

Tablet users average 11.07 page views per session, compared to 12.05 page views for PC users. Page views per session for both tablet and PC user segments remained consistent throughout 2011.

Conversely, page views per session for smartphones users is 7.18 pages – up 10 percent from an average of 6.54 pages throughout 2011. At the current rate, website traffic from PC users will dip below 75 percent in less than one year, Monetate also notes.